Keeping the City Going


A large open lorry inches down the dark icy hill,
slipping between snowed over parked cars.
A man in a grimy hi vis jacket stands, and sounds
uneasy on the back, flinging out shovelfuls of sand
and grit from a sprawling, diminished heap.
Occasionally, he yells “Stop!” to the driver, and looks
unsteady, too near the open tail gate. He seems
pissed off, unsafe, but probably glad of the overtime.
What might Laurel and Hardy have made of this?
But this is serious: our roads must be fit for purpose,
those centimetres of snow have to be shown who’s boss.
As the vehicle passes, yellow light whirling, I see the livery
on the door: blue and white, Godiva and horse, and the words
Rapid Response Vehicle. City Vision – Quality Services.